The Hissho Team had an amazing time at this year’s IDDBA Dairy-Deli-Bake Seminar and Expo in Atlanta, Ga.

For those not in the know, IDDBA is the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association – an essential resource for dairy, deli and bakery professionals. Originally founded in 1964 as the Wisconsin Cheese Seminar, it has evolved over the years to reflect the changing needs of professionals in the dairy, deli, bakery and related industries.
Each year, IDDBA conducts an annual seminar and expo, “Dairy-Deli-Bake,” that features the finest in dairy, deli and bakery: new products, new suppliers, new contacts, new (and old) buyers and new ideas. For the past several years, Hissho has been honored to be an exhibitor at this exciting show.

The Hissho crew arrived on Friday to unload our goodies and check out our booth space. (We were super stoked about being neighbors with Stacy’s Pita Chips and Sabra – can we say, “Nomz?!”)


On Saturday, we jumped into action early, setting up our booth and prepping food for our sampling. This year’s show was extra special for us as we were debuting our hot foods program, Asian to Go, to new prospects. So with a double duty of sampling both hot food and sushi, the team had a lot of veggies to chop!

The show runs three days, typically Sunday through Tuesday, and our chefs banged out some fantastically colorful displays for each day.





All in all, we had a great show! We were able to meet tons of new people, see some familiar faces and sample some wickedly awesome food. We hope to see everyone again in 2016!

Our talented group of Hisshonians put their Core Value #6 – Work Hard, Play Hard – to the test on Saturday, May 16th, bringing home the Silver Medal in this year’s Charlotte Dragon Boat Races!

For those not familiar, dragon boats are long, paddle boats that feature a standard crew of 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steerer. Dragon boat racing is believed to have originated in China more than 2,500 years ago, during the same period that the ancient Greek games were being established at Olympia.

Dragon boat racing has been practiced continuously since then, incorporating competitive, ceremonial, ritualistic and religious traditions, as well as serving as a basis for annual water rituals and festivals. Dragon boat racing emerged as an international watersport in the late 1970’s.

Hissho started the day early, clocking in at 0:55.70 for our first qualifying heat. After a few hours of rest, the team readied for the second qualifier. Coming in at a slightly better time of 0:55.39, Hisshonians were able to secure a spot in the B Division Championship Final.


(To put things into perspective for you, around 50 teams entered the competition and Hissho was seeded 12^th after the qualifying rounds! The top eight teams, comprised of mainly club-level teams, compete for the top division.)
With a few hours of rest and plenty of food to fuel our efforts, HIsshonians took to the water for the final race. Despite an amazing, tireless effort, we fell just four-tenths of a second short of the Gold Medal, with a finishing time of 0:53.59.

However, nothing but smiles could be seen on everyone’s faces as they returned to base camp. With little experience and practice, the team really pulled together to achieve the impossible!

Watch out for us next year! We’re coming for the GOLD! GO HISSHO!

Congratulations to James Engle for winning our Hissho Birthday Contest!
James created several new rolls for us…don’t they sound delicious?! Which would you choose?

• A breakfast roll with egg, ham, cheese and rice!
• Rice, egg whites, salmon, and tuna roll!
• A spicy cucumber, celery, and salmon roll!
• Yellowtail, crab, salmon roll!
• Rice, salmon, tuna, and shrimp roll!

Thanks to everyone who participated!

About the Contest:

• For Hissho’s 17^th Birthday, we’re asking our fans to create a unique roll for us via Facebook!
• Throughout the month of April, we will post prompts asking fans to comment with their own sushi creation. Fans are free to use any ingredients, but keep in mind what is readily available in your local supermarket.
• As the month progresses, we’ll narrow down the 5 most popular creations and fans will vote for their favorite.
• The fan with the winning name will receive a Hissho Prize Pack, featuring a t-shirt, retail sauces and other goodies. The 4 runners-up will receive a t-shirt.

How to Enter:

• Check Hissho’s Facebook Page for our Create Your Own Roll Posts throughout the month of April.
• On each post, comment with your creation’s ingredients, + a name for the roll, to be entered.
• On April 20^th, we will determine the top 5 creations based on popularity and an internal vote.
• On April 20^th, 24^th and 30^th, we will post the top 5 creations and ask fans to comment/vote for their favorite.
• On May 1^st, we will announce the winner.

Other Rules of Engagement:

• The contest officially begins on April 3, 2015, and ends on April 30, 2015, at 11:59pm EDT.
• The winner will be announced on May 1, 2015.
• Prizes can be awarded to U.S. residents only.
• Grand Prize is considered an exchange for all rights to use the winning creation’s ingredients and/or name.
• Winners must be fans of Hissho on Facebook.
• In the event that 2 creation entries are the same, we will award the creation to the fan that posted first.
• This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.
• No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.
• Any entry that is deemed inappropriate will be removed.

Prizes:

• The fan with the winning creation will receive a Hissho Prize Pack featuring a t-shirt, retail sauces and other goodies.
• The 4 runners-up will receive a t-shirt.
• All prizes must be claimed within one month of the close of the contest. Unclaimed prizes will not be awarded.
• Please allow up to 2 weeks for shipping and handling.

Winners:

• Winners will be notified via Facebook.
• Entrants must agree to allow Hissho Sushi to publish their name on the Hissho Facebook Page, website and other social media.
• A list of winners will be published and viewable on the Winners/Notes Tab of the Hissho Facebook Page.

Our awesome volunteers at Hissho brought a lot of smiles today!

Through donations raised by our Hisshonians, we purchased sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies and water, and assembled “brown-bag” lunches and distributed them at Crisis Assistance Ministry here in Charlotte, N.C. (Check them out here! http://www.crisisassistance.org/)

The gratefulness and appreciation shown by the recipients was significant and heartwarming. Thank you to all of our Hisshonians for your support and dedication in giving back to the community!

It seems a leprechaun left a huge pot of gold at Hissho this month! But, this pot of gold is EXTRA special!

Those shamrocks you see are actually donations from our humble Hisshonians! For the past two weeks, we’ve asked our Hisshonians to donate however much they’d like to go towards buying lunch for those in need.

We’ll purchase sandwiches, chips, fruit and water, and our awesome volunteers will assemble “brown-bag” lunches and distribute them at Crisis Assistance Ministry here in Charlotte, N.C. (By the way, if you’re local and want to see how you can volunteer with this great organization, click here: http://www.crisisassistance.org/)
Stay tuned for more on this project!! And we want to know: how are YOU bringing a little luck to someone?!

As we grow, we’re looking for more talent and fostering the local economy in Charlotte, N.C.  Click here to read more.

How lucky are we to kick off our blog with a recap of our festive Chinese New Year celebration?!
Eager faces gathered Thursday afternoon at Hissho HQ to kick off the Lunar New Year celebrations. Hisshonians, one by one, received traditional red envelopes for good fortune in the new year.

Traditionally, red envelopes are passed out during the New Year celebrations and almost always contain money – the amount of which should be of even numbers!
Then, with accompanying loud drums and cymbals, a dragon weaved its way in and out of the crowd. Hisshonians placed more red envelopes into the Dragon’s mouth to bring on a little more good luck for the new year!

 

The Dragon (and Lion!) dances are very common during Chinese New Year celebrations. Some believe the loud drums and cymbals combined with the frightening faces of the dancing Dragon or Lion can push bad or evil spirits away. Some more elaborate dragons can employ dozens and dozens of performers!
After the dragon went back to his lair, we played a Chinese New Year-themed game of “backwards charades.” For this, we split into four teams and each team designated one representative who would attempt to guess which Chinese Zodiac animal their team was trying to act out in “charades.” As you would expect, this resulted in lots of laughter, random animal answers and more craziness.
After the laughter subsided and a winning team was declared, we all enjoyed a wide array of sweet desserts, smoothies and fresh coffee to finish ringing in a sweet new year! It was a fun afternoon filled with laughter, good fortune and smiles!
Did you celebrate Chinese New Year? Tell us what you did for your celebrations!

Hissho Sushi is expanding their Headquarters in Charlotte, NC. Having moved into their current location in 2005, it was thought that the available 40,000 sq.ft. of space would suffice for a long time. But with their burgeoning growth, Hissho was “bursting at the seams.” Hence, the current expansion that started in December 2014 is almost finished. Additionally, the employee break room has undergone a complete renovation with an added outside covered patio with a fire pit extension.

Hissho Sushi has just launched their NEW website!  After months of intensive research and long hours of hard work, our Phase 1 has been launched, and the user-experience will be clear-cut, fun, and informative! We have lots of great photos to “show” what we’re all about; and all the pages are mobile-friendly. As our Core Value #10 says……… it’s “Simple, Hip, & Chic.”